


Praesperavero

by Fishykarp



Category: Sleepless Domain (Webcomic)
Genre: Angst, Crack Treated Seriously, Enemies to Friends, High School, I am here to make you laugh, group projects
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-10
Updated: 2021-01-28
Packaged: 2021-03-06 14:47:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 10,583
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26390635
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fishykarp/pseuds/Fishykarp
Summary: Waiting twenty four hours for a single shot at killing a single girl is painfully, miserably boring. So what's a sentient purple monster girl to do?Goops decides to enrol in Future's Promise.
Relationships: Kokoro | Heartful Punch/Undine Wells | Alchemical Water
Comments: 2
Kudos: 20





	1. Doubting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is not Undine x Goops. This will not become Undine x Goops. You're welcome to read this however you want, but there's too much mess involved with Undine's Goops-related trauma to consider writing Undine x Goops.

The start of the week was always rough. Not necessarily in _being_ the start of the week – Future’s Promise ran seven days a week, three-sixty-five days a year – but Monday morning’s classes weren’t ones she particularly looked forward to.

History wasn’t a subject Undine hated by any means. She’d always listened with rapt attention as her teachers explained the dynastic politics of the old Mahou Magocracy or the history of rooftop irrigation. Still, a history double on a frigid winter morning was sure to be draining, especially with each glance at the five empty desks chipping away at her mood. In the weeks after the deaths of her friends and Cassidy, nobody had been wanted to fill the seats they’d left behind.

Until today, that was.

“Hey. Alchemical Water.” A vaguely familiar whisper from Undine’s right side, a few minutes before class started. Huh. She was so caught up in finishing last night’s homework that she didn’t notice anybody sit down.

She turned to the source of the voice, opening her mouth to speak but nearly choking on air instead. “ _Goops?_ ” 

The humanoid sludge monster beside her shrugged in a way that Undine would almost describe as bashful, if she wasn’t talking about the remorseless phantom that killed her friends. “I enrolled in Future’s Promise. Is this seat free?”

“No.” Undine hissed. “That was Sally’s seat. You of all people don’t deserve to sit where she sat.”

Goops took on pleading tone. “Please, Alchemical Water. You’re the only person I know in this school.”

Undine sighed. She knew she shouldn’t be showing any kindness to a known mass murderer, especially one who had taken so much from her, but she also remembered the experience of starting fresh at a new school. Her classmates had helped her adapt; it was only fair to pass their good deeds forward. “Fine, you can stay. And call me Undine.”

The class passed surprisingly quickly after that. Ms Brunneis distributed worksheets based on the class’ look into the attempted reforms in City Year 88, and left the students to source their own answers from their textbooks.

Undine snuck a few glances in Goops’ directions as the class progressed, hoping to catch her in whatever devious plot she was surely hatching. To her surprise, though, she saw nothing but diligent study from the purple girl, finishing her worksheet in twenty minutes and then starting on her own notes in a small pink notebook.

Undine had to admit, it was impressive that Goops had even brought a textbook to class. Granted, she probably stole it, but it still showed a level of preparedness that many of her other classmates didn’t display.

The school bell rang for lunch and Undine shot up, quickly packing up her stuff and beelining for the door without acknowledging Goops. She power-walked through the school halls, stopping in front of her locker and turning around with a frustrated sigh.

“Why are you following me?” She asked Goops.

Goops smiled sheepishly. “I don’t know where the cafeteria is. I kinda hoped I could follow you there.”

Undine took a second to process that. “You’re lost? You can move through walls!”

Goops scoffed. “Sure, if I want to lose this uniform I paid a hundred and forty bucks for!”

“You _paid_ for that uniform?”

“How did you think I got it?”.

“Maybe you stole it from a girl you MURDERED.” Undine retorted. She took a breath. “Look, I’ll show you the way to the cafeteria just this once. We’ll drop off your stuff at your locker on the way, then we never speak again.”

“Actually, my locker’s next to yours…” Goops said nervously. “I think they gave me one that belonged to one of your friends.”

“WHY THE FU-“

* * *

Bringing Goops to the cafeteria was a tense, awkward affair. Kokoro was thankfully participating in some punch-based school event with Harley, so Goops wouldn’t have the opportunity to interact with her.

On the other hand, that meant Undine was alone dealing with Goops.

“Do have English next with Professor Goyle?” Goops asked through a mouthful of tofurkey, sitting beside Undine on the bench outside the cafeteria.

Undine groaned. “Yeah. Looks like I’m stuck with you for two more periods.”

“Two doubles in a day. That’s rough.” Goops said. “Are they strict?”

“She’s a pretty strict marker, but you should be fine as long as you don’t interrupt her teaching.” Undine said, briefly wondering why she bothered to give helpful information to Goops. Maybe it reminded her a bit of helping Sally with homework. “We’re currently reading poetry from the third magocratic dynasty. Iambic pentameter and all that.”

Goops’ eyes lit up. “I love third dynasty poetry!”

Undine stared at her. “You read poetry?”

“I have a lot of free time during the day. It’s one of the reasons I decided to come here. Besides,” Goops chuckled, “I was there when the poems were being written.”

Undine choked on her turkey sandwich. “You were?”

“Yeah.” Goops said wistfully. “Good times.”

Undine briefly hoped that she’d have some peace and quiet while Goops reminisced, but those hopes were dashed by the school bell ringing after only a few seconds. She didn’t even have time to finish her sandwich.

The trip back to her lockers and then to the classroom was thankfully mostly silent, Goops only speaking once to comment on Team Outrageous’ uniforms, which in her opinion egregiously violated the dress code. Undine actually agreed with her there, Team Outrageous were fashion criminals through and through.

English with Professor Goyle was about as interesting as usual, which was to say not very. The teacher had written out a full sonnet on the whiteboard, and very slowly went around the class making each student read out a line, pausing between each to explain and quiz the students.

This went on for quite some time, and Undine’s boredom almost made her try talking to Goops. Almost. Almost an hour into the class, Professor Goyle finally said something that caught her attention.

“Alright. You will be splitting off into groups of two, to write your own third dynasty sonnets. You and your partner will be expected to read the sonnets to the class next Thursday. This will be a home learning exercise; you will not be granted time to work on it in class.”

  
Most of the class groaned in annoyance, but Undine simply turned her head to the left with a sense of dread in her gut. To her dismay, Goops was looking straight at her.

“Ok, hear me out.” Goops said.

“No.” Undine said plainly.

“Please.” Goops said. “I told you earlier, I knew the people who wrote these poems. I know how to write one better than anyone.”

“So?”

“So, I can help you with the project more than anyone else! Undine. Please. I don’t want to be stuck with a partner that doesn’t pull their weight.”

“Ok I changed my mind. You using my name is worse, never call me that again.”

“Please.”

“…”

“Just this once.”

“…”

Sally had often told Undine that she was too nice. Too agreeable. That she was easy to take advantage of.

Undine hated to admit it, but Sally was right.

“Alright. Come up with a few ideas for our sonnet and we can discuss them next time we see eachother.”

What was she getting herself into?


	2. Shaken

It wouldn’t be long before Undine encountered her embittered eternal enemy once egain. Patrolling a narrow stretch of isolated alleyway, she came face-to-face with the purple menace, Protein Warrior Heartful Punch by her side.

“If it isn’t Undine…” Goops mocked. “Once again fighting the good fight to delay your inevitable demise- what do you want?”

Undine looked to Kokoro, who had her hand raised apprehensively.

“Did you call her Undine?” Kokoro asked.

Goops looked at her. “Yeah?”

“You don’t normally do that.” Kokoro said.

“Yeah? What’s your point?”

“I… didn’t really have one.”

Undine knew it was up to her to rescue the conversation from the grips of awkwardness. “Uh, Ms Goops?”

“Yes?”

“You were saying something about my inevitable demise?”

A moment’s pause. Goops reached her hand behind her back and pulled out a short stack of cue cards, flipping through them while mumbling to herself.

“Oh, right!”

Goops flew back, raising her arms in the air. The ground between her and Undine began to tremble and crack, hazy purple mist rising from the earth and forming a circular column ten feet high.

“There will be no running this time.” Goops said, a ferocious grin on her face. “And there’s no-one around to save you.”

The column of mist began to violently shake, growing from a rumble to a viscous roar! It collapsed in on itself, forming a sphere of pure darkness with tendrils of shadow twisting and warping around it in unnatural ways. It shot into the air, and then came down hard onto the pavement, releasing the beast within. 

Undine blinked. “Is that a panda?”

Goops spluttered. “No! It’s a ferocious bear!”

“So, a panda.” Undine said.

“It’s not even that big.” Kokoro said. “It’s kinda cute.”

“It is NOT cute!” Goops retorted. “It’s your nightmares made real!”

“Who has nightmares about pandas?” Undine asked.

“I dunno.” Kokoro replied. “All my nightmares are about strawberries or social rejection.”

“Strawberries?”

“They’re weird and have too many seeds.” Kokoro said. “They aren’t even berries.”

“PAY ATTENTION WHILE I’M TRYING TO KILL YOU!”

Undine and Kokoro’s eyes snapped back to Goops as the purple girl shouted.

“Whoops.” Kokoro laughed, nervously scratching her head. “Got a bit sidetracked there.”

“We’re sorry for interrupting.” Undine said, sincerely. “Please continue.”

Goops took a deep breath. “The nerve of Magical Girls these days…”

“Death Panda, attack!”

The Death Panda raised its head, and Undine and Kokoro braced themselves. It curled into a ball and rolled forward… and gently bumped against Undine’s foot. The Panda yawned, rolling onto its side and scratching its belly.

“What is it doing?” Undine asked, staring at the beast.

Goops sighed. “Ok. Look. I spent all afternoon thinking about our group project. I completely forgot to get a monster ready until I heard the 9:55 announcement.”

“…group project?” Kokoro asked.

“Yeah…” Undine chuckled. “Goops enrolled in Future’s Promise. I’m doing my English presentation with her.”

Kokoro looked at Undine, and then at Goops. Then back at Undine. Then back at Goops.

“That checks out.” She said.

She walked towards Goops, carefully avoiding disturbing the Death Panda, and held out her hand. “I hope it’s not too late to welcome you to Future’s Promise! I know how hard it is to start at a new school, especially one so big, so feel free to come see me if you need help. I’m normally at a table with Undine in the cafeteria.”

Goops was slightly taken aback, but uncertainly clasped her own hand in Kokoro’s and shook it. “Thanks?”

Kokoro laughed. “Don’t mention it. I’m one of the older students, it’s my job to be welcoming.”

She held her arms above her head and locked her fingers together, stretching her back. “Welp. What are we gonna do about this?”

“The Death Panda?” Goops’ face finally snapped out of the bewildered expression it had been frozen in.

“The Death Panda.”

Goops shrugged. “I suppose its essence will be returned to the void, to be used in the next creature I send to kill you.”

Undine’s eyes widened. “No! You can’t kill it!”

“It’s not _alive_.” Goops replied. “It’s made of smoke and concentrated fear.”

Undine pulled the Death Panda into a tight embrace. “I don’t care. I’m not letting you kill it.”

“Fine.” Goops deadpanned. “The panda lives.”

Undine cheered. “Thanks Goops! You’re the best!”

“I… am?” Goops asked.

“Yep!” Undine said, before turning to Kokoro. “What are we going to name it?”

“What about… Danda!” Kokoro said. “It can be like Dan da Panda!”

“I hate that.” Goops said.

“Danda it is!” Undine shouted, ignoring the purple person’s protests. “Although Dan is a boy name… Goops what gender is Danda?”

“It is a sentient clump of magical energy in the vague approximate shape of a panda.” Goops said. “It doesn’t have a gender.”

“So we can name it Danda?”

“… You can name it Danda.”

“What about your gender?”.” Kokoro said. Goops and Undine turned to her quizzically.

“What.” Goops asked.

“I mean- you don’t gotta tell if you don’t want to.” Kokoro said quickly. “I’m just- y’know- it’s good to get people’s pronouns right. If Danda isn’t a boy or a girl I figured maybe you weren’t either-“

“I use She/Her.” Goops said, cutting off Kokoro before she could get out any more nervous stammering. “But I don’t really care. Who’s gonna talk to me enough for that to matter, anyways?”

“Us, I guess.” Kokoro said casually. “I mean, at school, of course. I don’t expect you to give up on these attempted murders.”

Goops smirked. “I don’t intend to stop those either.”

“Great!” Kokoro said. “We’ll be ready for whatever you throw at us!”

“So…” Goops said. “How do you plan to care for a monster panda?”

“Well…” Undine said. “I was kinda hoping you would. I mean, you created it after all.”

Goops groaned.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Slightly shorter chapter here. Lot of setup-related busywork in the previous one and not enough crack. Hopefully I've begun to rectify that here.


	3. Interstitial 1 - Snoozy

The conversation petered out near immediately after Undine’s request. After all, where do you go from your arch-nemesis asking you to babysit their pet panda?

Well, step one was probably finding a place to keep it. Goops wasn’t one for staying in one place, and didn’t have much in the way of a permanent residence. Thankfully, one Heartful “Punch” Punch had an easy solution.

“Well, you’re a student of Future’s Promise now.” Heartful Punch had said. “You could always get a room at the boarding house?”

And so it was that Goops followed Undine and her golden retriever of a girlfriend all the way back to the Future’s Promise Boarding House, watching from afar as the pair bumbled their way down the street accidentally flirting in a way so obnoxiously oblivious that Goops genuinely wouldn’t be surprised if they’d accidentally gotten married somehow.

Thankfully, Undine and Heartful Punch parted ways at the boarding house’s door, leaving Goops alone with HP and Danda the Death Panda.

“Huh.” Heartful Punch said, hands on her hips. She looked at Danda, then at the boarding house door. “I don’t think Danda’s gonna fit.”

Goops smirked and waved her hand in Danda’s general direction. The formerly large bear shrunk to the size of a small dog, and Heartful Punch blinked.

“That works.”

With that solved, Heartful Punch pushed open the boarding house door. Goops followed her in, where an orange-haired girl sat, face-down in a pillow, at the receptionist’s desk.

“Hey Snoozy!” Kokoro greeted, looking at the girl. Snoozy however didn’t reply, instead looking straight past her to lock eyes with Goops.

For a tense minute, nobody spoke. Goops began to wonder if she should say something.

“HP.” Snoozy said, breaking the silence. “I have neither the energy nor the care to deal with whatever this shit is. Please explain what’s going on in the shortest amount of time possible so we can both go the fuck to sleep.”

“Well…” Heartful Punch said. “Undine and I bumped into the girl who’s been trying to kill us for the past month and a half, she summoned a panda monster to try and kill us, and we decided to adopt it instead. Also the murder girl goes to Future’s Promise now so we’re hoping she can get a room at the boarding house.”

Snoozy took a deep breath. “Ok. Well, first of all.”

She suddenly slammed her face down hard onto her pillow and screamed. Goops and HP glanced at eachother.

Snoozy emerged from her pillow managing to somehow look more tired than before. “Secondly.” She pointed at HP. “You expect me to break the pets rule for a second time, this time with a monster, and give a room to a known attempted murderer-”

“Successful murderer actually.” HP said helpfully, hand raised. “She killed all of Team Alchemical, and we think she killed Cassidy too.”

Snoozy groaned. “A known mass murderer, who traumatised your girlfriend and tried to kill you mere hours ago.”

Heartful Punch beamed. “Yes!”

Snoozy pulled open a drawer in the receptionist’s desk, not taking her eyes off HP. She produced a large glass, and proceeded to pour amounts of coffee, red bull, original recipe cocaine coca cola, and an instant ramen flavour packet into it. Still with eyes locked with Heartful Punch, she downed the entire concoction without stopping.

“Ok.” Snoozy said. “Well, you can go to your room HP. I am maybe four seconds away from strangling you, and you don’t need to be here for the next bit.”

“Ok Snoozy!” HP said cheerfully, as if Snoozy had not just genuinely threatened her life. “Goodnight!”

Goops watched Heartful Punch climb the stairs to her room, before turning back to Snoozy. “Sorry if I’m causing trouble…”

“Don’t be.” Snoozy reassured. “I wouldn’t’ve kept this R.A. gig if I didn’t enjoy it.”

Snoozy pointed to a small table with a drawer behind Goops, opposite her own desk. “We get new girls unexpectedly all the time. All the paperwork you need is in there.”

Goops opened the drawer and peered inside. As expected, there was a stack of forms, a couple pens, and…

“Hey Snoozy. Why is there a gun in the drawer?”

Snoozy, halfway through returning the ingredients of her illegal cocktail to her desk, looked up. “Oh. That. It’s a Chekhov’s Gun. It’s a literary device, basically a notable but seemingly-insignificant item that becomes important later in the plot.”

“Ok.” Goops said. “Why is it here.”

Snoozy shrugged. “Some weird magical girl appeared one day and gave it to us. Rough edge, or something? It’s good to have around in case monsters attack or somebody threatens a tenant. It’s surprisingly good at inflicting blunt-force trauma.”

“That checks out.”

“Welp. It’s about time for me to clock out before I collapse from exhaustion.” Snoozy said, walking to the boarding house door and locking it. “Make sure to turn the lights off on the way out. There’s a free room upstairs, furthest one on the left.”

“Alright. Thanks again.” Goops replied. “I might be here awhile though. The only writing practice I’ve had recently is writing backwards on the windows of young traumatised children, so it might take a few tries to get right.”

“I literally cannot be fucked unpacking that.” Snoozy said, as she walked up the stairs. “Leave your paperwork on my desk when you’re done, and go to sleep. Beyond that I don’t care.”

Snoozy stopped at the top of the stairs and turned her head back towards Goops. Despite herself, Goops felt a chill running down her spine. “One last thing.”

“…yes?”

“If you hurt anybody in this building, I will kill you. Goodnight.”

Is that what fear felt like?

Goops wasn’t sure she liked it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't know what this is. This was meant to be a Cassidy interstitial. What happened.


	4. Exposed

The next morning was pleasantly warm, and a surprisingly empty tram meant that Undine arrived at school half an hour early. Typically, she’d spend early mornings with Gwen who took the same tram as her, but unfortunately Gwen went to the gym every Tuesday morning and furthermore was dead.

So, instead, Undine elected to work on her group project. Part of her had wanted to force a majority of the work onto Goops, as revenge for… everything. Goops said she was an expert in third dynasty poetry, so she’d probably do better on her own anyways.

Still, Undine’s powerful heart and strong sense of morals won. Sure, Goops may’ve killed three of Undine’s oldest friends _and_ Cassidy, but that didn’t give her the right to be petty. Murder was one thing, but abandoning somebody in a group project was a whole other monster.  
  


She entered the school library, which stood undisturbed and empty – the morning’s warm weather likely encouraging everybody to spend it outside. Undine made a beeline for her favourite table, a small rectangular one by the bookshelves with two chairs on one side.

Retrieving a notebook from her bag to jot down ideas, Undine began to think. What rhymed with ‘purple fucker’?

“Hey Undine.”

Speak of the purple gooey devil, Goops descended from the roof upside-down. Her long, purple hair descended from her scalp to land directly onto Undine’s notebook.

“You’re here early.” Undine commented, brushing Goop’s hair aside to keep writing.

“Where else would I be?” Goops asked. “It’s not like I have to sleep, and your stupid pet keeps ruining my turkey casserole while I’m cooking it.”

Undine raised an eyebrow. “Danda?”

“That beast may not have the power of my other creations.” Goops said through gritted teeth. “But I assure you, it inherited the same malice.”

“I’ll take your word for it, I guess…” Undine said. “Do you wanna work on our project.”

Goops grinned. “Let’s!”

The purple girl flipped through the air, landed on the chair next to Undine. “Where do we start?”

Undine looked at Goops. “I mean, I was hoping you would have some ideas?”

Goops blinked. “Right! Yes! Of course!”

Goops raised her hand and with one swift motion, rammed it into her own face with a loud squelch. She pulled outward, her entire face stretching forward unnaturally until her hand _popped_ out holding a single cue card. As for Goops’ face, it snapped back sharply, momentarily jumbling and melding her facial features into some discount Picasso.

As Goops’ face recovered, Undine leaned over to read the cue card. There were three points written in purple ink.

  * Sonnet about killing kids



  * Sonnet about killing kids



  * rhyme crab with drab



“Goops.” Undine said plainly. “These are terrible.”

Goops gave an undignified grunt. “I think they’re ok.’

“You said you spent all afternoon thinking about this!” Undine hissed.

“I did.” Goops replied. “I just- I write slowly!”

“You wrote three sentences.” Undine stated.

“Look, the only writing I’d done before was writing troubling statements backwards on windows!” Goops said. "You should be impressed at my dedication in teaching myself to read!”

“You don’t know how to read?” Undine asked.

“I DIDN’T know how to read.” Goops corrected. “Now I DO, and I’m completely self-taught!”

“You’ve been around... basically since the founding of the city…” Undine said. “And you never picked up the ability to read?”

“Of course?” Goops leaned back in her chair. “I’m a serial murderer, not a NERD.”

Undine bit back a retort, knowing that any more of Goop’s nonsense and she wouldn’t be able to stave off the inevitable incoming migraine. Instead, she tried to pivot the conversation back to the poem.

“Ok. The crab thing is good. I’ve always liked aquatic animals!”

Goops, surprisingly, nodded. “I take a lot of inspiration from pre-city animals in all of my monsters. They’re so cool.”

“All?” Undine asked. “Which animal was Mouthburger?”

“Oh, not Mouthburger.” Goops answered. “Some red-haired girl on a skateboard sold me a bag of weird sugar that she called super protein powder. Next thing I know, I’ve blacked out and wake up six hours later with Mouthburger and a vat of tofurkey suspiciously labelled ‘Ariana’.”

“That checks out.” Undine nodded. “So, you said you spent a whole afternoon thinking about poem ideas?”

“Yes.”

“What other ideas did you have?” Undine said.

“…what do you mean?”

“Ideas for the poem?” Undine said. “You said you could only write those… three. But you must have more?”

“I- no I don’t.”

What.

“You said you were around during the third dynasty.” Undine stated.

“Yes. I was.” Goops replied.

_“You said you knew the people who wrote these poems.”_

_“Yes. They were Magical Girls. I spent most of my time trying to kill them”_

**“But you must’ve at least read their poetry?”**

**“I didn’t know how to read until last month!”**

**_“Then why did you say you knew about third dynasty poetry?”_ **

**_“I lied!!!!!!!!!!!”_ **

**_“WHY DID YOU DO THAT!???!!??!?!?!?”_ **

**_“BECAUSE I’M EVIL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”_ **

****

Undine was glad that nobody else in the library. Surely she and Goops would’ve been kicked out if there were. She took a deep breath, and opened her mouth to speak.

  
“I’m sorry.” The two girls said in unison.

A beat.

Undine coughed nervously and stood up. “Well. Zoe should be getting to school right about now. We have first period together so I usually go hang out with her before school. I’ll see you in history.”

“Yes and I also need to go and… enjoy the weather.” Goops replied, floating back up towards the ceiling where she entered. “The weather is good today.”

“Yeah.”

“Yeah.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah.


	5. Learning

The first two classes of the day went by quickly, mainly due to an inexplicable fire in one of the labs that forced a full-school evacuation midway through second period.

So it was that Undine found her friends sitting not in the cafeteria, which had been rendered inhospitable by two tubs of suspicious tofurkey reanimated by fumes from the chemical fires, but sitting in a loose circle on the grass in the east garden.

“Hey guys!” She waved as she approached, Goops following close behind. “Scary thing to happen in the middle of the class, huh?”

Kokoro’s eyes widened like an excited puppy as she noticed Undine (who was in turn unable to suppress a blush at Kokoro’s reaction). “I didn’t actually notice the fire alarms, actually. I was too busy overthinking every social interaction I engaged in this morning.”

“Same!” Harley said. “I was too busy committing things that aren’t arson.”

“I got out of a chem test I wasn’t prepared for, so I see this as a boon.” Bud said.

Vedika grumbled. “Speak for yourself. I was up all night preparing for that test.”

“You volunteer at a hospital.” Bud replied. “You’re up all night anyways.”

“Fair.”

It was around this point that everybody noticed the plum-coloured poltergeist nervously trailing Undine.

“Who’s this?” Harley asked.

Undine looked behind her. A few feet away, Goops hovered awkwardly.

“Oh! That’s Goops! I think I’ve told you about her before.”

“The Goops that murdered your friends, leaving you with lasting trauma and survivor’s guilt?”

“That’s the one!”

Bud’s eyes narrowed somehow. “This is the Goops that we think murdered Cassidy?”

“I can confirm that I did that.” Goops said.

“I see…” Bud stared at Goops, appearing deep in thought. Sizing her up. Undine couldn’t be sure, but she thought Goops looks more nervous than usual.

“I like your hair.” Bud said eventually. “It’s nice.”

Goops seemed taken aback. “…thanks?”

Bud laughed. “You’re cool, Goops. We should hang out sometime.”

At that point Bud and Goops’ conversation was rudely interrupted by the entire east wing of the school going up in flames.

“Undine?” Vedika asked. “Are you going to deal with that?”

“It’s a chemical fire, actually.” Harley interrupted. “Using water on burning metals only serves to make them stronger. Not that I’d know.”

“Harley.” Kokoro said. “Did you set the fire.”

“No.”

“That checks out.”

“So, you and Goops are friends now?” Vedika asked.

Goops and Undine answered at the same time.

“No.”

“Yes.”

Goops’ head whipped around to look at Undine. “You consider _me_ a friend?”

“Why wouldn’t I?”

“I killed three of your best friends, and Cassidy!”

“Fair point.” Undine mused. “That was generally the worst experience of my life and left me to grieve alone because the only people who could’ve helped me were either buried or dealing with their own grief.”

“Killing Cassidy was also sort of rude.” Vedika said. “I let her borrow my lucky pen for a test and she didn’t give it back before she died. Now I have no idea where it is.”

“Still.” Undine continued. “Who says we have to let a bit of blatantly sadistic antagonism get in the way of friendships?”

The group all nodded sagely, besides Goops who simply lingered in the air with bafflement on her face.

“I…” Goops began. “Ok. Friends. I can work with that.”

Kokoro grinned. “I’m glad you can!”

Undine sat back on the grass. It was good that Goops was getting along with the others, awkwardness was never fun. Still, one question lingered on her mind.

“Hey Harley can we go back to the bit where you blew up the school labs to get out of an exam-“

“NO!”

“Ok.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Took three weeks give-or-take to figure out how to make this chapter interesting, until I woke up in a cold sweat at 4AM this morning and thought "Arson." 
> 
> The rest is history.


	6. Interstitial 2 - Cassidy

Understandably, school was cancelled for the rest of the day. All the students were sent home where they’d be out of harm’s way if the school failed to contain the fire. Except for the students who lived in the boarding house, of course, who were ordered to return to a building that the fire could easily spread to.

So, as everybody else waved goodbye, Goops and Kokoro sat on a wall outside of the boarding house observing the flames. Already a few Magical Girl teams were trying to put out the flames, with Team Nature holding off the fire in the western gardens, and Melty Frost and Flame cleaving it in two from the rooftop track.

Goops glanced over at Kokoro, who sat digging handfuls of protein powder out of a bucket and shoving them in her mouth. She gave her a quizzical stare.

Kokoro noticed her looking. “What? The boarding house might burn down, so I threw all of it into this bucket for safekeeping. Oh- did you want some?”

Goops hastily shook her head, leaning away slightly. “I don’t need to eat.”

“Nonsense!” Kokoro said. “Everyone needs protein!”

“But-“

Before Goops could further refuse Kokoro’s offer, the punch-maiden shoved a handful of protein powder directly into Goop’s stupid purple face.

The powder dissolved into her head, disappearing. Despite not having lungs, Goops couldn’t help but violently cough.

_(what- what was that? where am I?)_

Goops rubbed her temple.

“Geez Kokoro. That _hurt_.” She whined. “You can’t just do that to someone.”

Kokoro raised an eyebrow. “You’ve killed people.”

“I…“ Goops prepared a witty retort, but stopped herself. “Well. I suppose you’re correct there.”

“You killed Undine’s friends. And one of mine” Kokoro said. The conversation’s jovial atmosphere fell away immediately, and Goops’ next words caught in her throat.

_(HP? Is that you? Can you hear me?)_

“I want to hate you, y’know.” Kokoro said, gazing at the fire still raging in the school. “You hurt Undine. I think more than you realise.”

“I’m-“

“I love her, Goops.” Kokoro continued. “And if she says that she wants to trust you, I will too. But I can’t just let you kill more people.”

_(Please. It’s cold, and it’s dark, and I don’t understand!)_

For a moment, Goops’ temper flared. “You think you can stop me?”

Kokoro laughed bitterly. “Of course I can’t, but I can ask. As a friend.”

“…as a friend.” Goops echoed. “I don’t know if I-“

“Don’t bother promising anything.” Kokoro said. “Just, think about it, ok?”

With that, Kokoro stood up and hopped off the wall, walking back towards the boarding house. “I’ll be in my room if you need anything.”

_(HP? Undine?)_

Goops looked back as the boarding house door swung closed. No- no. She couldn’t stop killing people just because some girl claiming to be a friend asked her to. Still… it wouldn’t hurt to stop, just for a short while. After all, she had all of eternity to wait.

_(I’m sorry.)_

Goops took a deep breath, and allowed herself to sink into the wall. She floated towards the boarding house, her mind boggled.

Undine _trusted_ her? After everything she did? After everything she took away?

No. Nobody could be that forgiving. So, why say she did?

She had to talk to Kokoro. She had to at least try to understand.

She passed through boarding house door, and looked around. Snoozy wasn’t at her desk. _Shit._

“Kokoro!” Goops shouted at the stairs. “You didn’t tell me which room was yours!”

“Guess!” The stairs shouted back. Or Kokoro, she supposed.

“I can’t!” Goops replied. “If I guess wrong it’s an invasion of privacy!”

“You stalk people!”

Goops grumbled, and began making her way to the stairs when-

**_“No.”_ **

Goops’ rang with a deep, booming cacophony. Hundreds of the same voice, at different pitches and different times, all saying the same thing.

**_“I won’t let you hurt her.”_ **

****

Goops clutched her head, trying to block out the bells ringing in her ears.

**_“I won’t let you hurt anyone else ever again.”_ **

****

Goops stumbled to the side crashing into the table on the side of the room. She collapsed to the floor. The sound began to take form, a cloud of purple mist in the centre of the room that she did not cast, and spun faster and faster until it whipped up a typhoon. And out of it stepped-

“Cassidy.“ Goops said, her voice barely a whisper compared to the roaring winds.

Goops stared at Cassidy, or at whatever twisted facsimile of Cassidy this was. Her hair, once perfectly symmetrical, was frayed and uneven. Nestled within the orange strands, a single streak of white. Her arms were bulging and muscular, leading to things more akin to blades than hands that didn’t continue the trajectory of the arm like a hand would, but instead jutted out like cancerous growths at forty-five-degree angles.

She was tall. Much taller than Goops remembered. Her entire body, as muscular as her arms, was split in twelve by tall horizontal cuts, held together only by coils of purple thread that twisted and pierced, seemingly straining even now to keep her from falling apart. And when Goops looked into her eyes, she only saw grim determination.

**_“Maybe HP was right, if this is what super protein powder can do. Just another of her decisions that I should’ve accepted.”_ **

****

“W-what-”

**_“I won’t let anyone else die like I did. Alone. Afraid. I heard what HP said. About the things you did. And I know you’re going to do them again. I need to stop you. Here and now. And then I- I need to apologise. To Undine. After I do-“_ **

****

And then Goops shot her point blank.

</>

HP watched from the top of the stairs as Goops returned Suzy’s gun to its place. She fought down the urge to throw up, as she made a dash back towards her room. Reaching her phone, she dialled Undine’s number.

Undine picked up. “Kokoro! Did you manage to have your chat with Goops? Because burning down the school isn’t something we can do twice-“

“Undine. Listen to me.” Kokoro said. “We can’t- Goops- we need to continue the plan. As soon as possible.”

“Kokoro. Is everything ok?”

“I- I’ll meet you at the roof. The usual spot. I don’t think I can talk about this over the phone.”

“The currently-on fire roof? Ok.” Undine said. “I’ll see you there.”

“Undine. I love you.”

“This is going to work, Kokoro, I promise. I love you too.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hoo boy! Don'tcha hate sudden tonal shifts in a work that relies heavily on keeping a consistently comedic tone? Well too bad! This is my fanfic, and I do what I want! Fear not, readers, for our regularly scheduled funnies will be back next chapter.
> 
> Team Nature are OCs of Epele, of the Magical Girl Interview Network (linked below). Don't tell her though, because I can't exactly remember if I asked permission to use her characters.
> 
> https://twitter.com/NetworkMagical
> 
> Obligatory "that checks out" because the line appears in every chapter but this one and the first one.


	7. Again

The school burning down, surprisingly, did not represent too dramatic of a shift in the students’ lives. Or a lessening of their workload. The teachers, after all, still needed to gauge how many kids didn’t die horribly the previous night.

While the eastern half of the school was all but lost, the students had mostly-successfully kept the fire from spreading past the cafeteria. Overnight, the school set up a series of those temporary moveable classrooms in the school’s various gardens, and sent letters to the students explaining their policy moving forward.

=================

Dear Students,

After the unfortunate burning of the school premises, we are deeply sympathetic to the potential disruptions caused by the destruction of study materials and textbooks. We recognise the setbacks this will cause issues in regards to completion of home learning, exam preparation, and finding your classes.

However, we want to make it clear that the fire is no excuse for not completing your home learning, failing to study for exams, or being late to class.

Attached is a map of the new classrooms and the locations of your classes.

Regards,

Scar-Face Teacher

=================

“Wow.” Kokoro said, holding the letter in front of her face. “I’m not sure what else I expected.”

Undine nodded, mouth too filled with turkey-flavoured fruit roll-ups to agree verbally. The pair sat side-by-side on the grass in a park lit by street lights, the sun having long since set. She swallowed her snack. “I’m glad Harley is legally immune to felony charges, because that fire was a lot more damaging than expected.”

“She probably didn’t know that water doesn’t work on chemical fires.” Kokoro mused. “Not her fault.”

“She was the one who explained that to us, actually.” Undine said. “She knew what she was doing, she just chose violence.”

Kokoro nodded sagely. “That’s fair enough, honestly.”

Without warning Undine felt a chill running down her spine, a creeping sense of dread that leapt at her like a ferocious beast as if trying to consume her. The sum total of her fears and regrets crushing on her soul. A feeling whose source she was all too familiar with.

“Hi Goops!” She said, falling backwards onto the grass to greet the apparition. “What’s up?”

The purple mass-murderer grinned. “Nothing much. Just came to tell you that I’m too busy to try and murder you tonight.”

“Oh?” Undine asked.

“I’ve got that history test tomorrow.” Goops explained. “I’m nowhere near prepared.”

“That checks out.” Undine said. “Well, I can’t say I’m disappointed.”

Goops chuckled. “I’m sure you aren’t. It’s a bit of a shame though, I had a bunch of Empress Day themed monsters that wouldn’t work any day but today.”

“Nobody celebrates Empress Day anymore.” Kokoro said, crunching up her letter and throwing it at a recycling bin. She misses.

“Which is a travesty!” Goops lamented. “I’m going to bring it back. Mark my words, I am going to bring it back.” 

Undine giggled. “Well, if you care _that_ much about your studies, how about I help you?”

Goops blinked. “What?”

“I can help you prepare!” Undine said. “I used to study with my team before big tests, but… y’know…”

Goops nodded. “My bad.”

“Well.” Kokoro said, standing up. “I’ll leave you two to it, then, while I pick up that piece of paper- aw fuck.”

As Kokoro spoke, a sudden gust of wind picked up the crumpled letter and blew it away. She swore and transformed, leaping after it as the wind lifted it further away.

Undine and Goops looked at eachother.

“Welp.” Undine said. “There goes my date. I guess I’ll grab a few of my notes, and we’ll meet up at the boarding house.”

</>

True to her word, Undine arrived at the boarding house six minutes later. She met Goops outside, to the purple girl’s surprise.

“You got here pretty quick.” Goops commented. “Didn’t you say you were going to get some notes?”

“I did!” Undine replied, gesturing to the bag she had slung over her shoulders.

“Your house is pretty far from here.” Goops said. “How’d you get all the way here so fast?”

“You know where I _live_?” Undine asked.

Goops coughed. “Er, nevermind, forget I said anything. Let’s just get inside before the Inner Barrier goes up.”

Snoozy of course was sitting at her desk when the pair entered. “You’re back early, Goops. And with a friend, too.”

Undine smiled. “Me and Goops are preparing for a test.”

Snoozy raised an eyebrow. “Ok. Ok. Well, you’re going to need to sign some paperwork if you’re going to come over this late at night. Nothing major, I just need to make sure I don’t get sued if your known serial killer friend kills you.”

“That makes sense.” Undine said. “Goops, you can get ready upstairs. I won’t be long.”

“If you’re sure.” Goops said, floating up the stairs. “I’ll start looking through my notes.”

The moment Goops was out of earshot, Suzy turned to Undine. “We need to talk.”

Undine nodded. “We definitely do.”

</>

Undine walked through the door to Goops’ dorm. “Goops? Have you started the-“

Before she could finish speaking, she was tackled to the ground by a large monster the side of a medium-sized monster. It was Danda, the Death Panda!

“Goops!” Undine shouted. “Get your pet off me!”

“My pet?” Goops replied, watching amused from the corner of the room. “You’re the one who convinced me not to kill it.”

“Ok, my pet.” Undine conceded. “Danda. If you wouldn’t mind?”

The panda monster rolled onto its side, off Undine, and playfully swatted her hair.

“Aright!” Undine said, sitting up. “Study time!”

She pulled a blue notebook out of her bag. “I’m not sure how many notes you’ve taken, so we’ll start by comparing ours to make sure you didn’t miss anything.”

For hours, the girl and the girl-killer compared notes and quizzed eachother. In time, their conversation shifted away from school.

“I actually think Heartful Wave is better.” Undine said. “But Kokoro didn’t want it to feel like I was joining _her_ team.”

“Really?” Goops asked. “I guess that makes sense. I’m sure most people still consider her the leader, though.”

“As they should!” Undine said. “She’s been so kind and comforting these past few weeks, and calls most of the shots when we’re fighting.”

“I’m sure working with someone after being a solo for so long must be quite the change.” Goops mused.

Undine nodded. “She’s gotten more confident recently. She started planning our route in advance, so Bud and Harley know where we are if they need help. Funny thing, the route goes through basically every staircase in our part of the city. It’s an interesting coincidence.”

Goops raised an eyebrow. “Uh huh. A coincidence.”

Undine coughed. “Maybe we should get back to the school stuff.”

More time passed. Eventually, the two decided that they were suitably prepared for the test and Undine opened the dorm door to leave. As she waved goodbye, she noticed something in Goops’ expression.

“Something up?” Undine asked.

“I…” Goops began. “Yes. There is”

Undine looked concerned. “Do you wanna talk about it?”

“It’s about Tessa.” Goops said.

Undine’s breath caught in her throat. “What?”

“I’ve been… keeping an eye on her. Maybe not for the best of reasons.” Goops admitted. “She isn’t ok.”

“I… haven’t spoken to her for a while.” Undine said. “I’m always at the club when she tries to call me.”

“I think that’s the point.” Goops said. “She hasn’t been coping well… I may’ve encouraged that a little.”

“But you’re telling me now?” Undine asked.

“I wish I could take everything back, but I can’t.” Goops said. “I was hoping you could reach out to her? Maybe convince her to see someone?”

“I’ll try.” Undine said. “Thanks for telling me.”

Undine turned away, passing through the doorway into the hall. She paused. Goop’s admitting that was unexpected, to say the least. She didn’t dare hope too much, but…

“Hey Goops, one last thing.” She said, ducking back into the dorm.

“Yeah?” Goops replied.

“Bud’s hosting some party this Saturday. I think she’s trying to push one of her ships. You wanna come?”

“You’re inviting _me?_ ” Goops asked.

“Well, usually Sally’s my plus-one to these things, but… yeah… so you’re my next best option.”

“Next best option.” Goops grinned. “I’ll take it. I’ll see you there?”

Undine nodded, leaving the room for real this time. “I’ll see you there. And tomorrow I guess.”

“Yeah. Tomorrow I guess. Goodnight!”

"Goodnight!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Praesperavero more like Latesperavero. Next chapter's already half-written, and I'm pretty excited for it, so don't expect it to take as long as this one! Kinda wrote them out-of-order.


	8. Regret

Undine felt butterflies in her stomach.

Fighting monsters was easy. Mourning her friends while looking into the eyes of their killer, she could do. Each moment shared with Kokoro made it worth it. Each day she got to wake up and know that she was one step closer to being ok.

This, though. She didn’t know if she had it in her.

The Magical Girl graveyard was right in the centre of the city, with the government buildings and business districts. An ocean of calm in busy and the noise. And yet, it stood empty. Ignored. An uncomfortable reminder of all those who’d died so young.

It was like negative space. A trick of the light. More a tangible idea than a place.

The sun painted a warm orange across the sky. The wind blew tenderly. Undine halted at the gates into the graveyard and for a moment, the world stood still.

The girl in front of the graves stood up. Without turning around, she spoke. 

“Undine.” Tessa said. “…it’s been a while.”

“Tessa-” Undine faltered. “I…”

“Don’t.” Tessa interrupted. “I don’t deserve it.”

“You’re my _friend_.”

Tessa scoffed. “Some friend I turned out to be.”

“You made a mistake, sure, but that doesn’t mean you-“

“Sally wanted to be a nurse.”

Tessa turned to face Undine. The skin around her eyes was a swollen, bloated red. Tears cascaded down her face, hitting the ground in large clumps. “We had a move night two weeks before everything happened. She told me that she wanted to be a nurse when she graduated. That she still wanted to help people even without her powers. I could tell that there was something else she wanted to say to me, but I didn’t ask. Was that being a good friend?”

“Tessa…”

“I saw Gwen’s dad here once.” Tessa continued. “He was standing right there, _sobbing_ over her grave. I couldn’t even look him in the eyes.”

“Tessa please…”

“Sylvia made me _promise_ to take care of her siblings. She said that if _anything_ happened to her, there was no one she trusted more than me. I haven’t even _tried_ to check up on them.”

Tessa looked away. “After all that, do you _really_ think I deserve your help?”

Undine took a breath. Wordlessly, she approached Tessa, and threw her arms around her. Tessa’s eyes opened in silent shock.

“I don’t think it matters.” Undine said softly. “You’re allowed to want to feel better.”

Tessa didn’t respond. Hesitantly, she returned the hug.

“I… know you’re not ok.” Undine continued. “I can’t say I am either. But I think I can get there. I think we can. Together.”

Tessa clutched Undine tighter.

“You should hate me.” Tessa whispered.

“I don’t.” Undine replied.

“Other people deserve your effort more than me.” 

“It’s not hard to love you.” Undine promised.

Tessa pulled Undine even closer, as if afraid to let go.

All was quiet. Just the steady breeze and Tessa’s muted sobs. Undine could feel Tessa’s tears dampening her jacket, and her own beginning to form in her eyes.

“I need help.” Tessa said. “I just don’t know if I’m strong enough to ask for it.”

“Then it’s a good thing you aren’t alone.” Undine replied.

Tessa smiled. Faintly, but it was a start.

“Do you want me to help you find a therapist?” Undine asked. “I mean, mine has really helped me. I’m sure she could recommend someone…”

“I’m not sure.” Tessa admitted “I… think I do? But I’m not sure if I’m ready…”

Undine nodded. “Well, we have all the time in the world.”

Reluctantly, the two girls pulled themselves from eachother’s embrace.

“Sun’s getting low.” Tessa commented. “I should probably get back home.”

“Yeah.” Undine said. “I’ll call you tomorrow, if you’re ok with that? We can keep talking then.

“That sounds nice…” Tessa mumbled. “Thank you, Undine. You’re a good friend.”

Undine took a measured breath. “It’s nothing, really. Someone helped me when I needed it, I guess I’m just… passing it forward.”

Tessa gave a weak smile. Taking one last glance back at the graves, she walked away.

“Get some sleep, yeah?” Undine called out behind her. “I’ve been told it’s the first step to kicking ass.”

And then Undine was alone. She hadn’t been back to this place since…

She looked at the graves. Sally. Gwen. Sylvia.

She thought of Tessa. Everything she had to go through, without any of the support Undine had.

She steeled herself. Her mind was made up.

There was only one thing left to do.

</>

By the time Undine got to Bud’s party, it was already in full swing. Mooching off Kokoro’s somewhat-excessive protein powder money, the self-proclaimed Doctor Gossip had rented out a function hall in the direct centre of the city: a semi-spherical golden building colloquially known as The Dome.

The entrance to the dome was a long hall with marble pillars on either end, modelled after monuments of a mythical pre-city civilisation known as the Third Hellenic Republic. In the centre of the entrance hallway stood three large fountains. Undine hummed approvingly.

“Wow. Bud really went all-out, huh?” Goops said.

Undine glanced at her purple plus-one. “She sure did. This’d be even nicer if we weren’t half an hour late.”

“Ok, look.” Goops said. “Snoozy wasn’t at the Boarding House. I needed to figure out how to sign myself out.”

“Couldn’t you have asked someone else?”

“Everyone else had already left for the party.”

“So the problem _was_ you being late.”

Goops grumbled something unintelligible.

“Took you long enough!” Undine heard a voice from behind the furthest fountain. Bud.

“Come in!” Bud shouted. “Apple did three lines of protein powder and says she’s going to kickflip the salad bar!”

Undine and Goops exchanged glances.

Undine grinned. “Well, looks like we’d better hurry.”

The interior of The Dome was as extravagant as the entrance hall. It was a large, circular room, with a dozen couples dancing around a raised platform where Team Forte preformed a song they did for some popular children’s television show, _Forte Fellowship: The Magic of Friendship._

The outer edges of the room were dotted with girls mingling, or avoiding mingling, by tables adorned with a variety of snacks. (Ooh, tofurkey. She’d have to have some of that.) She spotted Kokoro awkwardly hanging out by one of the snack tables, alone. She began to approach her girlfriend, but was intercepted by Bud and Harley.

“Yo. Undine. Goops.” Bud said. “You liking the party?”

Undine smiled. “It’s fun!”

“Great, great, perfect.” Bud said. She turned to Goops. “Can you dance?”

Goops blinked. “I… yes?”

“Fantastic.” Bud said. “Dance with me.”

“…what?”

“I need a dance partner.” Bud said. “You’re it.”

“Hey, hold on a second.” Harley interrupted. “You’ve never asked me to dance and you’re asking the new kid?”

“Not a kid…” Goops muttered.

“Do you _want_ to dance with me?” Bud asked.

“Founder, no.” Harley replied. “But it’s the principle of the whole thing.”

Bud sighed. “So, Goops, are you down for a dance?’

“I think so?” Goops said. “Can’t hurt to try.”

“Great!” Bud said, grabbing her by the translucent hand and dragging her off.

“Wait for me!” Harley yelled. She ran after them.

Undine giggled to herself, before finally making her way to Kokoro. “Hey Kokoro!”

Kokoro didn’t reply. She just… stared at a table

“Everything ok?” Undine asked.

“Bud says I’ve had too many protein shakes…” Kokoro whispered. “She put them… over _there_.”

Undine followed Kokoro’s gaze to another snack table. “I don’t see the problem- oooooooh.”

Right by the large jugs of Protein Shake, threateningly stacked in some ornate display, was a tower of strawberries.

“I don’t like strawberries.” Kokoro said quietly.

“I know.” Undine replied. “I’ll take care of it.”

Approaching the table with the strawberries, Undine picked up the one at the top of the tower, and popped it in her mouth. Then a second. Then a third. Like a poorly-constructed metaphor eating up precious reader attention, Undine tore through the tower in fifteen minutes flat, making sure to ingest each and every strawberry.

“Kokoro!” Undine shouted. “It’s safe now!”

Kokoro tentatively approached the table, making sure each and every strawberry was truly gone. “Thanks Undine.”

Without pause, the Protein Warrior lived up to her name and picked up two jugs of protein shake at once, downing them both in a matter of minutes.

“I think I know why Bud stopped you from drinking any more of that.” Undine commented. “Well, mistakes were made.”

Kokoro giggled. “They sure were. Anyways, I feel refreshed. Now…”

Kokoro smiled, that same beautiful smile that made Undine’s heart skip a beat every time. She extended her right hand. “May I have this dance?”

Undine felt a warm feeling rising in gut. Love, maybe? Or maybe that was the strawberries coming up wrong.

“You know, I probably shouldn’t dance after eating that much.” Undine said, suddenly battling the urge to heave.

“Yeah.” Kokoro replied. “That checks out.”

</>

The party went on for two hours more. It wasn’t particularly eventful, at least until Kokoro and Undine finally decided to try their hand at dancing. Two toppled tables and a few thousand dollars in instrument damages later, the couple decided to give up on that plan.

“What now?” Undine asked, trying to reassemble one of the fallen tables.

“My manager calls my lawyer.” Kokoro replied. “And then they both yell at me.”

“I mean, party-wise.” Undine said.

“Oh.” Kokoro said. “I guess we could kiss.” 

“That sounds like a good idea.”

And then they kissed.

</>

Eventually, the party drew to a close, just in time for everyone to get out and patrol for the night. Undine never did figure out which ship Bud was trying to push, but given that Bud had spent the entire night with Goops while not at all doing anything gossip-related, she had some suspicions.

When everyone else left, Goops and Undine stayed behind to help clean up (as the only two who could reach the roof and clean the results of Apple kickflipping the salad bar.

“Bud’s cool.” Goops commented, as the two put away their cleaning supplies.

“That she is.” Undine agreed. “We should probably tell her that she’s done with this. She’s probably still outside.”

Goops nodded. “Alright. Let’s do it.”

The two exited into the hallway with the three fountains, continuing to talk. As they passed the second fountain, a familiar annoucement filled Undine’s ears.

**“ATTENTION ALL CITIZEN. THE TIME IS NOW 9:55PM. PLEASE MAKE SURE YOU ARE BACK INSIDE YOUR HOMES, WITH ALL DOORS AND WINDOWS LOCKED.”**

She grinned. Showtime.

Undine couldn’t help but feel butterflies in her stomach. Everything she did this past week. All she put up with. It ended here and now.

She glanced to th

side

of the kill

her

kill

burning her

searing

like a sun

pain 

soon

it can end

the pain

end

can

mind’s eye

in my

no i

more was

hiding weak 

i can be strong

is here for me

kokoro

pushing 

i can’t

pushing

hoping

i can pushing

_**I won’t let this happen again**_

A blinding flash of light. The fearsome roar of a defiant blaze. Goops felt herself violently thrown from Undine’s mind. Her back collided with the cold marble floor, some unseen gale pinning her to the earth that almost felt as if it was giving way to swallow her. She couldn’t move. _Why couldn’t she move?_

“This is for all the people you killed.” Goops strained to look up. Undine hovered above the central fountain; her expression steeled with a resolute restraint. “For all the people who deserve to be here standing where you stand so much more than you ever will.”

Goops tried to reach into Undine’s mind. To read her thoughts and feelings like she so effortlessly had before. But she couldn’t.

“You never could.” Vedika said, emerging from behind a pillar. “Not really.”

“Sorry about this. Genuinely.” Bud said, appearing from a pillar opposite Vedika. “I think you’re cool, but I can’t ignore the things you’ve done.”

“You killed Cassidy. Twice.” Harley’s voice echoed throughout the chamber from behind Goops. She heard the doors slam shut. “Did you really think we’d be ok with you coming to _our_ school, and rubbing it in our faces?”

The exit door slammed closed too, as Kokoro walked through. “You hurt my girlfriend. You hurt so many people in ways that’ll haunt them for the rest of their lives. And now you’ll never get the chance to hurt anyone else like that again.”

The air in front of Goops rippled and cracked, as a girl with orange hair appeared seemingly from thin air.

“…Snoozy?”

“That’s Suzy to you.” She said. “I told you what would happen if you hurt anyone in my building.”

Suzy’s eye’s glowed, and four more translucent forms appeared beside her. Sylvia. Sally. Gwen. Cassidy. Their bodies distorted and marred with blood. All staring down at Goops with soulless blank faces. In unison, they took a step closer. The wind pinning her down suddenly felt all the more oppressive. The earth seemed to grow around her, threatening to envelop her whole. The heat became unbearable, and four orange stakes pierced directly through her limbs.

**“ATTENTION ALL GIRLS. THE TIME IS NOW 9:59PM. PLEASE MAKE SURE YOU ARE TRANSFORMED AND READY.”**

Suzy stepped aside. Gracefully, Undine descended from the top of the fountain.

Undine raised her right arm, and Goops was engulfed by an unknowably great agony, as if the individual molecules in her body were tearing away from eachother.

Goops craned her neck to look Undine in the eyes. They were pure pink.

**“THE TIME IS NOW 10 PM. ALL CITIZENS SHOULD BE INDOORS, AND ALL MAGICAL GIRLS TRANSFORMED.”**

The inner barrier began to form, beginning at the centre of The Dome. In seconds, it spread to the entrance hallway, and as it did, Goops felt herself being pressed even further into the ground. Undine was glowing hot pink now, so bright that Goops didn’t even need to look at her to see.

The magic that held Goop’s body together began to come undone, unravelling into shards of purple mist that Undine pressed directly into the forming inner barrier.

Goops caved in on herself. This. _This_ was true fear. _This_ was what all her victims felt right before they died.

The blinding white light of the inner barrier enveloped her.

The pink light of Undine’s magic filled her vision.

And then everything went white.


	9. Interstitial 3 - The Woman In White

Goops thought she knew what it was like to die. How could she not, having caused so much of that death herself? The fear she saw in the eyes of her victims as the light finally faded, the last whispered questions they’d never get answered – she couldn’t say she was prepared for it, but she at least thought she knew what to expect.

What she didn’t expect was to feel so _betrayed_.

Yet as she drifted though the silent infinite abyss that was the Inner Barrier, the scattered bits of her mass being carried across the city, all she could focus on was the noise.

Why? Undine didn’t _have_ to call her a friend to sell the deception. She didn’t _have_ to invite her to parties and help her with studying if the end goal was just to kill her.

Why bother with Danda if she was going to kill the only one who knew how to take care of him? Why do something so antithetical to her goal of saving lives and let Goops bring a monster, however harmless, into the same building where her girlfriend _slept_?

Why give her a pet? Friends? A reason for existing rooted in something other than murderous rage only to wrench it all away?

It served no purpose other than spiteful cruelty. Rubbing salt into a wound. It didn’t feel like something Undine would do. It felt like something _she_ would.

… _shit_.

</>

A week ago, Goops would've said that she knew everything that there was to know. How could she not, living such a long, storied life?

All she knew now was that she knew nothing at all.

A week ago, Goops would’ve fought with every ounce of her fading will to hold on. It wasn’t as if she didn’t expect this to happen eventually. All the unfortunate souls she’d made deals with, every underhanded bargain with a poor sap who just wanted to be like her heroes, all she had to do was cash in a single one and she’d be home free.

But as the Barrier contracted with the first lights of dawn, drawing her towards the beginning and end of all magic, she did something that the Goops of one week ago would never have even considered.

She swam towards the source.

</>

The source of all magic was emptier than Goops expected.

She’d been here before. All those eons ago before she drew her line in the sand against the herald of magic. Then, it had been a small classroom, the desks pushed to the sides and the centre occupied by a rectangular table with two chairs to each lengthwise side. Even now, Goops couldn’t help but remember taste of Anemone’s tea, or Goldie’s drawn-out chatter.

It seemed that in the intervening centuries, the realm of dreams had changed greatly. Where it was once a charmingly compact room, it now seemed to stretch endlessly in every direction. Where it was once lit with vibrant threads of mystic light, it now stood a stark white plane as dull as it had been wondrous. Where it was once lush with revelry and life, one could now be forgiven for thinking it long abandoned.

And for all intents and purposes, it was.

“I thought I told you never to come back here.” The Woman in White said. She stood with her back turned to Goops, her voice betraying no emotion. “I recall you agreeing, in no uncertain terms, that you never wished to return to this place.”

“I messed up.” Goops said, slowly pulling together the shattered pieces of her physical form.

“Did you, now?” The Woman asked dryly. “Unthinkable.”

“Winona, please-“

“Don’t you _dare_ use that name.”

“ _Please_. I made a mistake, and I need your help to make things right.”

Silence.

“I know you have no reason to help me, but-“

Goops paused mid-sentence. Was the Woman in White… shaking?

She focused on the woman. Laugher. Beginning almost inaudible but building to an unrestrained shriek that unsettled even Goops.

“You want to _make things right?”_ She asked. “You? After everything you’ve done?”

“I know what I’ve done some terrible things, but with your help-“

“You can what? Apologise to Undine Wells to make up for the hundreds you’ve killed? Shed a few tears as if that at all makes up for the lifelong traumas you’ve inflicted?”

“I…”

“And for what?” She asked. “Why dedicate your immortal life to causing so much pain to so many who only wanted to protect the ones they loved?”

Goops’ breath caught in her throat.

“…because I knew they’d end up here.” She said quietly. “Because I wanted to hurt you.”

“You slaughtered untold numbers of children. To hurt me.” The Woman in White echoed. “I’m afraid there’s no redemption for that. I’m a god. Not a miracle worker.”

Goops could only stand silent, stunned.

She finally brought herself to speak. “I… didn’t think you would be this harsh.”

“You didn’t?” The Woman in White’s voice shook. “After everything that you’ve done? After having the gall to come to me for help after a half millennia-long murder spree fueled by my magic with the sole purpose of intensifying my pain? After leaving me alone in this godforsaken abyss to send little girls to sacrifice their lives against a monster I created?”

The Woman in White exhaled. With slow, heavy steps, shambling like a living corpse, she turned to face Goops.

“You shouldn’t have come here. I failed everyone. Anemone. Goldie. You. I won’t fail again.”

Her eyes lit up. The air around her rippled with pure, unfiltered magic.

“You will never leave this place. You will never hurt anyone ever again.”

Goops tried to run. She didn’t make it two steps.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one's pretty heavy, and only half the chapter it was meant to be. I realised that I'd written enough to split this into two, giving Praesperavero a clean twelve total chapters. We're in the final stretch now, thanks for reading this far!


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